b"20American Journal ofTransportation ajot.com(MONEYcontinued from The Port of New York and page 14) NewJersey:Canitmakeit country, it would rank third into number one?) as the shift the world behind the US andof Asian manufacturing from China in GDP. Japan, the cur- China to Southeast Asia and rently3rdrankedeconomy,South Asia, makes East Coast hasaGDPof$5.06trillionports more attractive to con-whileEuropeanpowersliketainership calls.Germanyat$3.85trillion,This has happened before the United Kingdom at $2.67when there were West Coast trillion, and France at $2.63labordisputes(likethecur-trillion would rank far behindrentILWU-PMAcontract the NEC.standoff)orportcongestion Theeconomicpowerofin the San Pedro ports of Los the region is also a magnet forAngeles and Long Beach. In globalcorporations.Therepreviouscases,thediverted are around a thousand corpo- business,forthemostpart, rateheadquartersinmetro- returned to the Southern Cal-politan New York area alone,ifornianports.Butthecur-includingoverfiftyFortunerent boost to East Coast ports 500 companiesthe most formight have staying power as any city globally. supplychaininfrastructure Butitisntjustmetroshifts. NewYorkCity,theentirePeterFriedmann,aDC regionisadaisychainofbasedconsultantforboth(CONECT) in an AJOT postPermanent]opined,Forthrough East Coast gateways. affluentcitieswithhightheAgricultureTransporta- writtenbyStasMargaronis,example,transloadfacilitiesThesameforwarehouses, SkysTheLimit2.pdf 1 12/13/2021 3:07:20 PMGDPs.The#1rankedNewtionCoalition(AgTC)and[AGTCsFriedmannSaysthat might have been built tocoldstoragefacilities,etc. York metro region alone hastheCoalitionofNewEng- LackofILWU-PMACon- serve a West Coast gateway(MONEYcontinued on a $2 trillion GDP while the #5landCompaniesforTradetractCouldBeDangerous,are being built to serve cargopage 25)WashingtonDC-Arlington-Alexandria region is $608 bil-lion, #7 Boston $532 billion, and#10Philadelphia$478 billion [2021 current dollars]. ThesefourNECeconomic hubs alone account for about 17.2% of the GDP of all the US metropolitan regions.Of course, it is also more than just the financial weight that the NEC brings to bear onaneconomy.Withthe Washington DC beltway only a 3 hour and 30 minute train ridefrommetroNewYork, the strip is perhaps represent-ing the greatest combination of both monetary and politi- At the Port of Baltimore, the sky's the limit. calpowerconcentratedin such a small area.Neo-Panamax cranes. 50-foot deep berths. No supply chain congestion.Andpoliticsandmoney are connected like entangled quantum particles. According to a recent Fed-eral Reserve Bank New Eng-landPublicPolicyCenter C(NEPPC)brief,TheNew MEnglandstatesarereceiv-Yingdisproportionateshares offundingundertheBipar-CMtisanInfrastructureActof MYNovember2021,andthe CYmore recent nonbuilding con-CMYtractsdatamightbereflect-ingthosedollarsatwork KThe above-average growth in constructionemploymentin the [New England] region in the past year is also consistent with the possibility that infra-structure projects are helping to offset weaker demand for residential constructionF ollow THeM oney : T Hes HiFTe asTRemarkably, this $5.8 tril-lion GDP is generated in just over 2% of the U.S. land area. This concentration of wealth insuchaconfinedregion makestheNECthelargest high-end consumer market in the US. The NEC regions high- marylandports.com 1.800.638.7519end consumer goods demand has largely been satisfied byMaryland Port Administration Executive Director William P. DoyleAsianexportsthroughWest Coast ports. But that may be changing (see Peter Buxbaum"